Surgical navigation systems, also known as computer assisted surgery and image guided surgery systems, aid surgeons in locating patient anatomical structures, guiding surgical instruments, and implanting medical devices with a high degree of accuracy. Surgical navigation has been compared to global positioning systems, which aid vehicle operators as they navigate the earth. A surgical navigation system typically includes a computer, a tracking system, and patient anatomical information, The patient anatomical information can be obtained by using an imaging mode such as fluoroscopy, computer tomography (CT) or simply by defining locations on the patient's anatomy with the surgical navigation system. Surgical navigation systems can also be used for a wide variety of surgeries to improve patient outcomes.
To implant a medical device, surgical navigation systems often employ various forms of computing technology, as well as utilize intelligent instruments, digital touch devices, and advanced 3-D visualization software programs. All of these components enable surgeons to perform a wide variety of standard and minimally invasive surgical procedures and techniques. Moreover, these systems allow surgeons to more accurately plan, track and navigate the placement of instruments and implants relative to a patient's body, as well as conduct pre-operative and intra-operative body imaging.
To accomplish the accurate planning, tracking and navigation of surgical instruments, tools and/or medical devices during a surgical navigation procedure, surgeons often utilize “tracking arrays,” which are coupled to the surgical components. These tracking arrays allow the surgeon to accurately track the location of the surgical components, as well as the patient's bones during the surgery. By knowing the physical location of the tracking array, the tracking system's software is able to detect and calculate the position of the tracked component relative to a surgical plan image.
To replace a worn or damaged knee during a total knee arthroplasty (“TKA”) procedure, a significant amount of effort is typically devoted to ensuring that the patient's knee is balanced. As part of this knee balancing process, it is important to make sure that the patella is properly aligned with the femur, particularly as a misaligned patella can cause poor leg motion and premature failure of the corrected knee. Procedures for tracking a patella with surgical navigation, however, are currently unavailable. Thus, it would be desirable to overcome these and other shortcomings of the prior art.